Learning to Make Ti Leaf Lei

Pomaika’i Ah Mook Sang, wearing a lei over a black shirt, taught the first portion of a two-part ti leaf lei workshop series last week. Contributed photo

By Léo Azambuja

In Hawaiian culture, the ti plant is believed to attract good spirits and ward off evil. A ti leaf lei symbolizes good luck, protection and blessings. Gifting someone a lei is considered a gesture of respect and an embodiment of the aloha spirit.

“Ti leaf plays a significant role in laʻau lapaʻau, in cooking, hula, in ceremonies and in celebrations,” said Pomaikaʻi Ah Mook Sang, who led a ti leaf lei workshop at Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke Sept. 20.

A half-dozen people learned or got a refresher on how to make basic ti leaf lei in the introductory workshop sponsored by the Molokai Arts Center, in a partnership with the Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke. 

Kilia Purdy, of the Homestead Makeke, said a lot of people already know how to make regular ti leaf lei. MAC coordinator Kanoelani Dudoit said despite they knew the workshop might not be as popular as past lei workshops featuring different plants, the basic ti leaf lei workshop could serve as a “good refresher,” and an opportunity to learn something new, which was exactly what happened.

“The correct term for ti leaf, or ki leaf, in Hawaiian, was lāʻī, and everybody learned that today, nobody knew that,” Dudoit said. “Now we are going to start using that term more often.”

The other aspect that Mook Sang was hoping for, Purdy said, is that last week’s workshop would be a foundation for the second part of the ti leaf lei workshop this Saturday morning at the Homestead Makeke. 

“They will need it for the next one,” Purdy said of the lei-making skills learned last week. 

The second workshop will teach people how to make ti leaf lei in the same style maile lei are made. Rather than picking maile from the native forests, people will be able to make a pretty similar lei using just ti leaf, she said.

“It may not smell as good as maile, but maybe you can spray it with something and save our forest,” Purdy said. “They look pretty similar when you make those ti leaf maile-style lei.”

Coming from a bloodline of entertainers and hula dancers, Mook Sang said doing the importance of doing a ti leaf lei workshop is to carry on Hawaiian traditions and culture of lei making. Lei-making, she said, is something to do together with your ‘ohana and community. It brings everyone together for the same purpose, sharing aloha with others.

“I have been making lei since I was a keiki, either for fun or for a specific purpose. I have learned to make lei with my tutu, mom, aunties, cousins and kumu,” Mook Sang said. “I hope to keep the tradition going with my keiki and future generations.”

The second part of the ti leaf lei workshop with Mook Sang is also at Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke at 2240 Lihi Pali Ave., east of Purdy’s Mac Nut Farms at 9 a.m.